How to Clean Your Grout
It has recently come to my attention that I have been neglecting the grout in my tile floors. Really, I have always assumed that the slight discolorations here and there were character. Not so, a friend has told me. She has her grout professionally cleaned every six months or so.
Unless your grout is white, you don’t want to use chlorine bleach as it will discolor the grout, resulting in a mess that is worse than before.
Before you begin your scrubbing, you will want to vacuum your floor thoroughly. Then get out your scrub brush. Toothbrushes, which are what most of us scrub small areas with, are too soft. Wire brushes are too stiff and can gouge the grout if you are not extremely careful. Use a regular stiff bristled brush for the job.
I researched my options online. Vinegar and water was the first suggestion that I encountered. It proved to be ineffective.
Baking soda was next. I made it into a paste and scrubbed with a scrub brush. It worked well, but I am not sure that it worked any better than soap and water. My grout looks fine. It doesn’t look as good as new, but it looks perfectly fine. I mean you wouldnot come over to my house and and look down at my floor and gasp with horror.
The next thing that I read about was oxygen bleach. I haven’t tried it yet, but think the next time I am in my local flooring store I will pick some up. The grout in my mudroom floor is looking like it has seen better days. It would be a good test of the effectiveness of the product.
The other interesting tidbit that I ran across while researching was that you shouldn’t seal the grout. This goes completely against everything I had always heard or done. Basically the thinking says that if you seal the grout the stains that get through will be even harder to remove because the stain treatment can’t penetrate the sealer. Not sure if I buy that or not.
